Local teams relish competitive experience

Chix with Stix, Storm focus on positives in tournament loss

Steamboat Springs  The season came to a close for two Steamboat Springs women's hockey teams at the Women's Association of Colorado Hockey last weekend in Westminster.

"We had been looking forward to this tournament all year," the Storm's Lisa Owen said. "It was a lot of fun."

Both the Storm, which played in the B division, and the Chix lost all three games at the tournament.

But Owen said her team was just excited to get a shot at playing at this high level.

The Storm fell to the Synergy in a 3-0 game, the second-ranked Chill in a 3-1 game and the state's top ranked B team, the Brewsers, in a 4-0 contest.

The only goal of the weekend came in the 3-1 loss to the Chill. Owen got the assist after firing a shot on goal which was deflected. Kelly Halpin, however, came up with the rebound in front of the net at pushed it into the back of the net.

"Everybody played really well," the Storm's Stacy Foster said. "This was our first time to compete at this level and everybody had fun that's what is really important."

The other women's hockey team from Steamboat Springs at the tournament, the Chix with Stix, competed in the A division.

The Chix lost to the Bandits 4-0, the Aspen Mother Puckers 4-0 and the Blizzard 2-1.

The only Chix goal of the weekend came off of the stick of Val Dietrich in the second period of the game. The local women's team made things interesting at the end of that contest but could not come up with the tying score in the closing seconds.

Dietrich said her team had plenty of chances but couldn't score in time.

The tournament was played at the Sun Microsystems Ice Center at the Promenade in Westminster. It marked the end of the season for both women's teams. But Owen said she is already looking forward to next year and the chance to return to the state tournament and a chance to return with a title.